WHITEMARSH — The Plymouth Whitemarsh High football team entered Colonial Field Friday night, proud and determined to win the program’s first playoff game since 1997.

Then, in marched an even larger number of students from Neshaminy – and that was just the members of the Redskins’ band.

At its peak this season, the Colonials’ roster totaled 44 players. Attrition had dipped that number below 40 by playoff time. Neshaminy’s football program showed up some 70 strong Friday night.

For its 9-1 season to continue, PW knew Friday’s first-round matchup would require the fourth-seeded Colonials to play above their size and with their highest level of execution.

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PW entered the game already shorthanded as top deep receiving threat Alton Custus was out for the season. For the Colonials to move on, they knew they could not afford a single other loss of manpower.

That did not last long.

In the first half, senior tackle Tre Scott went down with a left leg injury and had to be helped off the field. One of PW’s top run-defenders would spend the second half out of his pads, in a leg immobilizer and on crutches.

Less than a minute into the second half, running back Terry Brown, one of the two PW 1,000-yard rushers this season along with Corey Kelly, would also go down. Brown had to be helped from the field and spent the rest of the night with his left leg wrapped and on crutches.

A 42-21 defeat to No. 13 Neshaminy in the first round of the District One Class AAAA playoffs was not the way any Colonial player envisioned this season would end. Having to hobble off the field on crutches was not the way either Brown or Scott had thought their high school football careers would come to a conclusion.

“We were down, and to go down like that, for me it was a heartbreaker,” Brown said. “I felt like I lost my best friend or something like that on that play. Words can’t even explain how this feels.

“They’ve got like over a hundred people in their program, we have about 30 right now. To lose key players, that’s a heartbreaker.”

PW struck first in the game, led 7-0 in the first quarter. The Redskins would score the next 35 points to seemingly put the game out of reach.

“They’re a great team, in a great league,” Scott said of Neshaminy. “The league we play in, we don’t see those caliber lines every week.

“It’s hard, but I knew all I could do after that was cheer my team on. I thought we were going to do it this time. Standing on the sidelines and only watching, that’s hard to take. All you work for, it ends like that.”

The Colonials did add two fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull to within 35-21 and make it interesting. Neshaminy would then add a late score.

“That describes the season for us,” Brown said of the fourth-quarter fight. “We’ve been in that position before, where we’ve been down and came back. The heart and determination of the team, it’s always there, and I love that. We never gave up.”

When Scott was injured with 5:05 to play in the second quarter, the game was tied 7-7. Neshaminy would go down and score two more TDs before the half to make it a 21-7 margin, the Redskins offense going right at the hole in the PW line made susceptible by Scott’s injury.

“There’s not much we can do,” PW head coach Dan Chang said of losing integral pieces of his team at such a critical moment. “We work our guys and try to make sure we’re ready in case guys do go down.

“Obviously, it’s tough to lose Tre and Terry in the same game, but we made a fight and we came up a little short.”

PW finished up the year at 9-2. The team won the Suburban One American Conference for the second straight season. The Colonials were the fourth seed in districts and hosted a playoff game. And two players on the team each ran for over 1,000 yards during the season.

All in all, that is a lofty resume.

Still, PW won the league and hosted a playoff game last year, as well, and it ended in similar fashion in the first round of districts. The Colonials had hoped to take the next step for 2012.

“I can still walk away thinking we did something, but I still wanted more.”

Neshaminy (8-3) moved on to a quarterfinal match against fifth-seeded Central Bucks South this coming weekend. Meanwhile, for PW, it was the end of the football season.

The Colonials will have to turn in their uniforms now, almost as many uniforms as Neshaminy’s marching band.